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‘We have the right to be safe’
Protecting disabled children from abuse

We know that disabled children are at an increased risk of being abused compared with their non-disabled peers. They are also less likely to receive the protection and support they need when they have been abused.

This report identifies key issues about safeguarding disabled children. It looks at why disabled children are particularly vulnerable and considers what we know from research and reviews of service delivery. It examines the policy context and current state of safeguarding services in the UK. Finally it sets out what is needed to improve the protection of disabled children.

What we know about what puts disabled children at riskFactors that increase risk and lessen protection for disabled children include:

attitudes and assumptions – e.g. a reluctance to believe disabled children are abused; minimising the impact of abuse; and attributing indicators of abuse to the child's impairment

barriers to the disabled child and their family accessing support services

issues related to a child's specific impairment – e.g. dependency on a number of carers for personal or intimate care; impaired capacity to resist/avoid abuse, difficulties in communicating; and an inability to understand what is happening or to seek help

limited opportunities for disabled children to seek help from someone else

a lack of professional skills, expertise and confidence in identifying child protection concerns and the lack of an effective child protection response.

What we know about disabled children's experiences of abuseResearch suggests that:

disabled children are at a greater risk of physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect than non-disabled children

disabled children at greatest risk of abuse are those with behaviour/conduct disorders. Other high-risk groups include children with learning difficulties/disabilities, children with speech and language difficulties, children with health-related conditions and deaf children.

disabled children in residential care face particular risks

bullying is a feature in the lives of many disabled children.

What might help improve the protection of disabled childrenResearch has identified a number of activities that can help to protect disabled children. These include:

personal safety skills activities, including sex and relationships education, that raise disabled children's awareness of abuse and ability to seek help

peer support, which can have a beneficial effect on reducing bullying and enabling children to explore issues and make decisions.

creative therapies, which can provide children with opportunities to express themselves through indirect and non-verbal means.

How else we can improve protection for disabled childrenWe need to share and build on existing knowledge and good practice and work together towards ensuring equal protection for disabled children. There is a need:

to develop a wider and deeper evidence base to help us better understand the vulnerability of disabled children to abuse and how they can be protected.

to raise awareness about the abuse of disabled children and challenge attitudes and assumptions that act as barriers to protection

to promote safe and accessible services

to raise disabled children's awareness of abuse and ability to seek help including access to personal safety skills training

for agencies to build on good practice and measures already in place that help ensure the effective delivery of child protection and criminal justice services for disabled children.

Related resources

Safeguarding disabled children in England

Survey establishing the effectiveness of local arrangements to safeguard disabled children and how well LSCBs have responded to recommendations in the Ofsted (2012) thematic inspection on protecting disabled children.